Hister punctifemur, Mazur, 2010

Mazur, Sławomir, 2010, Hister punctifemur sp. n., a new Hister-species (Coleoptera: Histeridae) from China, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 10 (1), pp. 23-25 : 23

Hister punctifemur sp. n. ( Figs. 1 - 11 )

Body ( Fig. 1 ) oval, convex, black and shiny. Forehead ( Fig. 2 ) flat, finely punctulate. Frontal stria complete, subcariniform, feebly inwardly arcuate at middle. Labrum rounded anteriorly, a little incised at base. Mandibles convex, finely punctulate. Scapus and funiculus pitch-brown, antennal club tomentose, with two transverse sutures.

Pronotum narrowed anterad. Marginal pronotal stria complete at sides ( Fig. 3 ), interrupted behind the head. Lateral pronotal striae incised. The outer one abbreviated basally, usually not reaching the pronotal mid length, the inner one complete a little sinuous medially and distant from the margin. Epipleura feebly concave, not ciliate. Elytral epipleural fossete flat or weakly concave. Both marginal striae complete, a little carinate. Oblique humeral stria present on basal 1/3. Both subhumeral striae wanting. Dorsal striae incised, 1 – 3 complete, the 4 th and 5 th ones present at apex only, the 4 th one usually longer than the 5 th one. Sutural stria abbreviated basally, present on apical ¼ - 1/3.

Pygidial segments a little convex. Propygidium moderately densely covered with elongate punctures (0.5 – 3.0). Pygidial punctation feebler, the pygidial apex nearly smooth. Propygidium and basal half of pygidium alutaceous.

Prosternal lobe ( Fig. 6 ) rounded, deeply margined, with short fragments of the outer marginal stria basally. Disc distinctly punctulate, more coarsely at sides. Prosternal keel more finely punctulate. Mesosternum emarginated anteriorly, finely punctulate. Marginal stria complete and incised. There are also two short, additional striae in anterolateral angles. Meso-metasternal suture subcariniform, sinuate. Metasternum as punctulate as mesosternum. Median line distinct and incised. Transverse line at metasaternal apex very fine and indistinct. Lateral metasternal stria subcariniform, extending obliquely and posteriorly, united arcuately with oblique stria which extends inwards from metasaternalmetepisternal suture. Lateral disc of metasternum covered with large and round punctures, intermingled with the small ones.

Intercoxal disc of the 1 st abdominal segment distinctly margined laterally.

Male genitalia as shown in Figs. 7 - 11 .

Legs paler than body, pitch-brown. Foretibiae dilated ( Fig. 4 ), with 4 spiny dents at outer margin (the apical one bifid). Femora ( Fig. 5 ) deeply but not too densely punctured (1 – 2), profemoral stria abbreviated, present at apex only. Mid- and hind tibiae with two rows of numerous spinules at outer margin.

Length: total 4.8 – 6.0 mm; PE: 4.0 – 4.5 mm. Width: 3.3 – 3.7 mm.

Material examined: Holotype, male, China, N Sichuan, Songpan env., Minshan Mts., 1000 m, 20 – 30.vi.2005, [NHML]

Paratypes: 10 specimens of both sexes, as labeled as the holotype (8 NHML, 2 CHSM) .

Hister punctifemur belongs to the Palearctic group, including the species allied to Hister bissexstriatus Fabricius and H. sedakovi Marseul. This group may be characterized by absence of subhumeral striae, more or less punctate profemoral disc and shortened profemoral stria. The species of this group are widely distributed in the Palearctis but in Central Asia (including Central China) they inhabit more frequently the montane elevations (Kryzhanovskiy & Reichardt, 1976: 324, 327, 328). A discovery of H. punctifemur at the altitude of 1000 m seems to confirm such a tendency.

Figures

Figs. 1 – 11. Hister punctifemur sp. n. 1 – body, dorsal view, 2 – head, 3 – body, lateral view, 4 – foretibia, 5 – profemora, 6 – body, under side, 7 – 9 – edeagus, 10 – 8th tergite, 11 – 9th and 10th tergite, 7 – ventrally, 8 – dorsally, 9 – laterally.